Baby Joseph Is Home, and Breathing Free

A victory over death, and bureaucracy.

John Hayward

Human Events

4/21/2011

“Baby Joseph” Maraachli, the 15-month-old Canadian boy who
was sentenced to death by the Canadian health care system, is back home in
Windsor after a last-minute rescue by Father Frank Pavone and Priests for
Life.

Joseph suffers from a rare and baffling neurological
disease.Critics of the effort to extend
his life said that he would never breathe without the aid of a machine.Priests for Life paid for his transport and
care at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis.There a simple tracheotomy procedure was
performed, making an incision in the baby’s neck to access his windpipe.“By providing him with this common palliative
procedure, we’ve given Joseph the chance to go home and be with his family after
spending so much of his young life in the hospital,” said Chief of Pediatrics
Dr. Robert Wilmott, who described the operation as a “success.”

In a press release, Priests for Life noted that “the crystal
ball that ‘right to die’ advocates seem to always think they have” seems to have
come up with “Answer Cloudy, Ask Again Later.”

“We don’t have to answer their criticism,” said Father
Pavone. “Joseph is doing that for us,
with every breath he takes. He has
gained benefit from his tracheotomy, is breathing on his own, and is going home
to live with his parents, who will love and care for him for as much time as God
gives them together.”

The end of Baby Joseph’s life was duly ordained by all the
right medical experts in Canada and London.All of the paperwork was properly filled out, and certified by
judges.His reprieve was financed by
volunteer donations to Priests for Life, which maintains a web page for
donations here.“So many people from the United States and
Canada and all around the world have reached out, sent letters and called my
family to let us know they were praying for us and thinking about us,” said
Joseph’s father Moe in a press release.“This has really helped our family through this hard time, to know there
is so much kindness in the world.”

Baby Joseph remains in a near-vegetative state.(Media reports inaccurately describe him as
“vegetative,” but he does respond to some external stimuli, especially the
presence of his parents.)How many days
does he have left?No one knows, but
today is one more.Is his story fated to
have a sad ending?Perhaps… but despair
is what happens when we skip ahead to the end of a life story, instead of
turning the pages one at a time.

This is a time in which we contemplate the ultimate victory
of love and hope over death.Here is
another story to share with your family at Easter dinner.